


Mutual

by kiryou



Category: One Piece
Genre: F/M, First Relationship, Gen, Lunami, Nakamaship, Post-Time Skip, Romance, mutual
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-10-31
Updated: 2014-10-31
Packaged: 2018-02-23 08:53:30
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,885
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2541722
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/kiryou/pseuds/kiryou
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>He calls it a mystery feeling. They disagree. She calls it love.</p>
            </blockquote>





	Mutual

**Author's Note:**

> first posted on March 2, 2011 at ff.net

**Luffy**  was  _thinking_.

He sat still on his special spot —  _Sunny_ 's figurehead, seemingly enjoying the view. As always, the sky was bright, blue and clear. The sea was bare, endless and serene. The wind never stopped running over him, knocking his hat off of his head, sending it to obediently fly behind his back.

But he just knew it. Something was missing.

The raven haired captain looked up and slightly pouted at the sky. Today, he just couldn't find any clouds that looked exactly like his all-time favorite food — meat, no matter how hard he tried to look for it and even thought he wasn't Chopper, he could always smell  _that_  scent — the scent that only the endless blue of the New World could provide him — the scent of adventure. But strangely enough, he couldn't feel it now.

Thus, Luffy decided that he wanted something to distract himself from this weird situation, fast. Of course, meat (with Sanji's kicks as an extra service of the shitty restaurant) would do.

Without delay, Luffy sprang up, losing his balance for seconds. He grabbed his hat, ready to put it back at the original spot on his head but then paused. The memory of his fateful breakfast flooded back and he submissively slumped down again.

It was simple. He was just stuffing his face with everything identified as food within his arm range as usual, albeit a little harder this time from the first seat of the row plus the one and only person sitting next to him happened to be Nami and Luffy didn't feel like getting beaten up in the early morning so, after noting to himself not to sit at such an unhealthy position, his arm stretched past Nami's food, aiming to consecutively snatch Zoro's, Chopper's and Usopp's in one flight.

At that exact moment, Nami abruptly shot on her feet for some reason, panicked, and then the  _Thousand Sunny_  was crushed by.. a giant wave? — which was caused by.. a cannon? a storm? a sea king? Luffy didn't know because he was trying to grab every piece of meat, as much as he could before the ship started to rock very violently and everything concurrently slipped from one side to another.

Nami roughly grabbed his shoulder, trying to balance herself in her standing position, only to send them both to fall backward (forward in Nami's case).

And everything went into slow-motion for Luffy.

As soon as he successfully swallowed his last meat, his face sharply met with her collarbone. At the same time, something hit the back of his head and Luffy landed right on the floor with Nami on top of him. Unfortunately, she wasn't the only thing falling in his path.

As if using his Gear Second, Luffy flipped over, switching their position in one swift movement just in time before the first chair followed their momentum and smacked his back, making him lower himself from the impact, the tip of his nose barely touching Nami's then the second chair followed, his lips firmly pressing against hers and Luffy couldn't help but notice that her eyes (which widened in sheer shock) were  _beautiful_.

After that, everything was  _weird_.

To Luffy, Robin's smile seemed brighter when she informed them that they were, yet again, among the Marine ships. Zoro's laugh was smug, almost annoying, when he dragged Luffy out of the dining room into the furious storm outside to finish their task. Sanji's mood seemed to be darkened and Luffy just noticed (and later,  _felt_ ) that his kick was more powerful for no reason. Usopp's and Chopper's continual glances were discreet. Brook's song was more pleasant than usual. Not to mention that Franky's (joyful) tears were.. well, Luffy had no idea why he was crying anyways but the weirdest of all was Nami.

At first, he wasn't sure but now, after one day and a few hours had passed without seeing her face, Luffy finally concluded that Nami was avoiding him.

A crease crept its way to his brow. Here it came again —  _a mystery feeling_ ,

Tingling his skin, nagging his mind, blinding his senses, making the sea and the clouds and  _everything_  remind him of the orange haired navigator and her mikans, again and again.

At that thought, Luffy subconsciously looked back at the grove. As if on cue, he saw Nami leaving the dining room instead. Not to let his opportunity slip away, he put his beloved straw hat back on his head and stood up.

His resolve kicked in.

 

* * *

 

 **E** ffortlessly, Luffy stretched his arm out weaving it around Nami's waist then lifted her up and pulled her down towards him on the grassy deck. She crashed into him with a scream.

"WHAT THE HELL ARE YOU DOING!?"

Nami was struggling. Her hands automatically pushed his chest, trying to make some room between them but her attempt was in vain because rubber  _was_  rubber and she only sprang back into him once again. She let out a frustrated huff and glared at him, silently demanding an answer.

His black eyes fixed at her lips, her cheeks, her hair then her eyes. He could smell the scent — Nami's scent? Mikans' scent? New World's scent? Luffy couldn't identify it anymore.

After wondering if this was something Chopper always felt with his sharp sense of smell for a moment, without fanfare, he leaned forward, inhaling the scent of her hair. His face was dangerously close to the crook of her neck.

"It's  _your_  scent." he murmured and nodded to himself, satisfied.

"W-What?" Nami instinctively jolted back at his sudden intrusion, shuddering when his breath tickled her ear. Her hands fisted the front of his cardigan as a meager support when her knees started to buckle.

If Luffy noticed her question, their awkward positions or her face that started to resemble the color of his cardigan, he didn't show any signs of it. He leaned back and just stared at her contemplating about what he should really do next to fix this weird situation and stop the mystery feeling that made his heartbeat quicken.

"L-Luffy—" she stammered, fidgeting uncomfortably under his intense gaze then started hitting his chest, "Let me go!"

"Yada."

"LET-ME-GO!" she seethed at him, enunciating every word.

Luffy didn't even budge. His mission wasn't over yet and he needed to do something now otherwise, he just knew he would never enjoy eating his meat or just sitting at his favorite spot ever again and that was the worst — the  _worstest_  thing for him.

"LUFFY!"

"Is it weird, Nami?" he asked all of a sudden. Nami's hands stopped and she blinked, confused, trying to comprehend whatever that was running through her captain's head. Luffy didn't disappoint her though.

"Did everything get weird after  _that_?" he paused, flicking his eyes from hers to her lips then to her eyes once again. Nami easily understood what he was referring to and averted her gaze from him, knowing there was no way she could win a staring contest against Luffy especially in a situation like this.

Taking a deep breath, she said, "It's just an accident, Luffy. We didn't—"

"You're avoiding me." he cut her off. It was a statement, not a question.

"I'm not!" her head snapped up, making their noses almost touch each other's.

 _Deja Vu_.

That weird feeling wasn't gone but Luffy felt better like this and he didn't fail to notice that her eyes were shining, mesmerizing. Her scent suddenly engulfed his sense and he couldn't remember anything except the fact that her lips was so soft that he desperately wanted to feel them again in that fleeting moment.

"Luffy.. " she absent-mindedly whispered.

Being close to her made him feel better thus Luffy decided, maybe if they kissed again, it would be gone.

"Lu—"

Simply, he kissed her. It was just a hasty little peck on the lips, purely chaste, nothing special but Luffy could feel the surge of  _something_ run through his body.

"Why.. why did you kiss me?" Nami gasped, blushing madly, the waves of emotions floating in her deep brown eyes. Her fingers loosened around his cardigan, grazing his scar, making that certain something tighten in his chest.

His theory didn't work. Nothing was gone. He only wanted more of it and his instincts told him there was no need to find any reasons to do it now.

So, he completely ignored her question and kissed her again.. caressing her cheek, sliding his hand through her silky long hair, cupping her neck and tilting her head upward to meet him, inhaling her scent, licking her lips, finding his way to savor her intoxicating sweetness..

And again..

When Luffy pulled back, they both were breathing heavily. His arm around her waist snapped back to its original length.

Losing her support, Nami slumped on the grass. Her eyes widened when she realized what was just happening. She quickly glared up, ready to snap at him but paused when she saw his smiling face.

"Yosh! I've decided." he proudly announced, "I like this! Shishishishi!"

Luffy was pleased, definitely, grinning ear to ear for the first time in a day. Still, that feeling wasn't gone but he felt even better with it right now because of the kiss — because of  _Nami_. Sure, he had  _always_  known she was special but it had never been so vivid, so true to him like this before.

Luffy's grin grew even wider at the thought but then, he caught the sight of Nami crumpling on the deck. Her face was red like a tomato.

"Oi, Nami!" he instantly sat down next to her, alarmed, "Are you okay? Are you sick? Did I do something wrong! _?_ "

Nami waved his questions off, "Did you even know what're you doing, Luffy?" she sighed, pressing her fingers against her temple.

"Of course! I kissed you and it felt nice, really." he bluntly replied with confidence, carefully studying her just in case. He really loved her smile and she couldn't smile for him when she was sick that time so he just hated it, plain and simple.

Nami just stared blankly at him. The silence was growing around them for a moment.

"Can't you feel it, Nami?" Luffy clearly asked, " _Can't you feel it_?" he repeated quietly, waiting patiently for her to say something.

To his astonishment, a small smile broke out on her lips then she started chuckling and Luffy yelped in surprise when she threw her arm around him, squeezing him tightly within her embrace before secretly wiping the tears of happiness away from her eyes and releasing him shortly after that.

Luffy cocked his head, gazing at her, slightly confused at her reaction but she smiled and she didn't hit him so it probably was best like this.

"So, what now,  _captain_?" Nami asked, smiling coyly.

"Stop avoiding me." he answered without thinking, frowning at the thought of their separation two years ago, "I want to see you every day."

At that, Nami blushed again but she quickly shook her head, trying to regain her composure, "Just.. that?" she tentatively asked and Luffy just nodded at her.

"Is that so?" she smirked, "Okay then, Luffy and you owe me 10,000 beli for each kiss, understand?" she said sweetly then stood up, straightening herself, ready to leave.

"But Nami, that's bad!" he opposed, looking up at her with his trademark childish pout.

Nami stopped and quizzically looked back at him, raising an eyebrow.

Luffy stayed silent for a moment then he laughed happily, getting the result which he knew both of them would like, "Shishishi, you  _must_  be the richest person in the world, Nami." he said then grasped her wrist, pulling her down towards him.

"Ehh! _?_ " she exclaimed in surprise, landing right on his lap.

Luffy grinned widely at Nami and leaned down, "Because I plan to do  _this_  every day from now on!"

"W-What the—Mmph!"

 

* * *

 

 **Zoro**  opened his eye, irritated.

Everything was calm and quiet until now. Nobody was outside except Luffy who lifelessly sat on  _Sunny_ 's figurehead like a statue since morning, if not, yesterday. Truth be told, Zoro couldn't care less about anybody's love life but after that accident, everybody with their right mind (except Luffy himself) could easily sense a  _very_  awkward atmosphere between Luffy and Nami.

And food must have been the only thing that could make the listless captain become noisy and energetic again at this time.

Somehow, Zoro was sure now wasn't lunch time yet but he slowly stood up, stretching his muscles just a bit then looked down from the crow's nest at the deck below to confirm the source of the noise and he sure as hell did see Luffy, laughing and grinning happily like an idiot..

..with  _Nami_  on his lap?

Zoro returned to his previous position after a brief moment, crossing his arms over his chest, closing his eye. A devilish smirk appeared on his face.

He was happy for Luffy but most of all, he couldn't wait until the moment Sanji found out.

 

* * *

 

 **T** he future Pirate King  _always_  kept his words.

Next morning before their meals started, just a little peck on her lips..

The dining room fell into a dead silence. Luffy, completely oblivious to his speechless crewmates, already started stuffing his mouth while Nami desperately wished she could just vanish.

"Uh.. ahem," Usopp was the first one who broke the silence, "Excuse me everyone.. " he paused for a moment, looking at Nami then fixed his gaze at Luffy, "Are you..  _together_?"

Nami opened her mouth to say something but was cut off when Luffy suddenly stopped eating and smacked the table.

"Oi, Usopp! Why did you ask a stupid question like that!" Luffy shot back like it was the most obvious thing in the world.

Eyes widened and silence turned into chaos.

"Ahh.. young love is beautiful! Yohohohoho!"

"NOOOOOOOOO! Nami-swannnnnnnnn!"

Franky whistled.

Zoro laughed triumphantly.

"Shut the hell up wayward Marimo! Luffy! You..  _lucky bastard_!!"

Robin softly chuckled.

Usopp started his lovey-dovey tale about the idiotic captain and the fierce navigator with a throaty laugh and Chopper's eyes lit up.

No one except Nami caught Luffy's mutter, "You're weird, Usopp.  _Everyone_  is together now. How could you not know?" and Luffy almost went back into his oblivious mode but..

"ARE YOU SICK AGAIN, NAMI!?"

Nami smacked her forehead and hopelessly groaned at her crew.

 

* * *

 

 **Usopp**  wasn't lying.

For some inexplicable reasons, he knew something like this would finally happen ever since the moment Luffy put his hat on Nami's head, beat the crap out of the Merman Pirates' Captain and destroyed Arlong Park. While everyone else had learned Nami's past (Usopp assumed Zoro's hearing system was working even when he was asleep or he hadn't slept at all), Luffy knew nothing.

He just did all of those things because  _Nami was crying_.

Usopp smirked at the memory, watching as the blushing Nami gave Luffy a not-so-harsh hit on his head and started scolding him while Luffy grinned before happily stealing their forgotten food, didn't seem bothered.

Willing to let Luffy get his food for once, Usopp then turned to the reindeer and began his rightful duty — making Chopper's day.

He wasn't lying but exaggerating wouldn't hurt anyone, right?

 

* * *

 

" **N** ami, talk to me!"

"..."

"Nami, look at—"

"I'm  _trying_  to concentrate here!" Nami hissed through her teeth, unconsciously gripping the book in her hand but when she received no response from Luffy, Nami looked up and met with his large puppy dog eyes.

She winced slightly and quickly shifted her gaze back, "Go bother someone else Luffy. I'm sure Usopp, Chopper and Brook wanna play with you."

"But they told me to go bother you!" Luffy insisted, jumping up to sit beside her.

She closed the book in a huff, glaring at him, "And you listen to them, not me?"

"Yes! You're outnumbered, Nami." he replied earnestly.

Nami stood up with a sigh, walking to the bookshelves in an attempt to find anything which required her concentration less than navigation.

"Just go take a nap, wait for the next island or something." she told him half-heartedly, her eyes flicking through the shelves and then stopped at novels.

Luffy bounced down onto the floor and followed her, "But I want to talk!"

Historical.

"Admit it, Luffy. You only want my snack."

Adventure.

"No! I want to be with you." he whined.

Her cheeks flared up and her hand paused then went straight to Crime. Nami then turned around and she was standing face to face with Luffy.

Maybe  _Horror_.

The distance between their faces was too short. Luffy closed it and Nami didn't want a book anymore.

It lasted only a few seconds and then he frowned, trailing his fingers across her cheek, "Your face is red again." he mumbled against her lips.

"I'm not sick." her answer was barely above a whisper.

"Shishishi, that's good." Luffy grinned and dipped his head down once again.

Nami didn't complain.

 

* * *

 

 **Sanji**  had always known.

He could hear their voices as he approached the library and yet, he still persisted and silently witnessed everything. Luffy hadn't noticed the smell of food. Nami hadn't noticed him and he was torn between melancholy and outrage for a moment.

Sanji leaned against the wall, his grip around the tray of Nami's snack tightening.

He wished he could smoke now.

Deep down, Sanji knew and he hated that he couldn't deny it. If someone (who wasn't a woman) deserved to be happy,  _he_  was Luffy and Sanji was sure even (the inconsiderate shithead) Zoro could see happiness in  _their_ eyes.

He stared at the wall for a while then let out a small chuckle and headed back to prepare his snack for Robin without a second glance.

Never to give snacks to Luffy was such a tempting idea.

 

* * *

 

" **L** et me eat it, Nami!" Luffy whined as he left the dining room with a basket of  _mikans_  in his hands.

"No, Luffy and I want all of them,  _safe and sound_ , in my room." Nami said, continuing her walk without glancing back at him.

Luffy puckered his bottom lip, "But I—"

She turned back and took the basket from him, " _You_  are the one wanting to help  _me_ in the first place." she stated, rolling her eyes.

"You're  _so_  sooooooooo mean Nami!"

Nami ignored him and walked away but Luffy ran up and snatched the basket back then starting running down to the deck, laughing like crazy.

"Luffy give it back!" Nami screamed, chasing after him, "I'LL KILL YOU!"

"Shishishi, why should I? You'll kill me!"

Unfortunately, even his own rubber legs could make Luffy stumble. The basket was knocked off. Mikans were scattered around. Luffy's face nicely collided with the grass. Nami stopped in horror, slowly picking one of her mikans from the deck. Her body started shaking with wrath.

Luffy who was trying to get up seemed to sense his death coming closer.

"Don't kill me! THEY ARE SAFE!" he sprang up and practically went into Gear Second, collecting every one of her mikans back in their respective basket then caught her fist just before it landed on his head.

Nami struggled to free her hand and Luffy wasted no time. He lifted her up on his shoulder and started sprinting.

"What the—!" Nami screeched, pummeling his back with her fist, "YOU ARE SO DEAD LUFFY!"

Taking the last jump, Luffy landed on  _Sunny_ 's figurehead. He sat down and set her on his lap, his arms holding her waist from behind, "I'm sorry but your mikans are safe and I'll let you sit here. It's my special seat only!" he said breathlessly.

Nami only gave him a long sideways glare and Luffy looked back into her eyes, saying sincerely, "Don't kill me, Nami."

After a moment, she looked away and sighed, leaning her back against his chest, enjoying the view in front of her instead. Luffy blinked but took that as a good sign before he grabbed his hat and put it on her head, resting his chin on her shoulder.

"It's hot." he murmured against her orange tresses, slightly tilting his head to the sun above them.

Nami smiled.

"Your hair smells like mikans."

She lifted her hand up, holding her mikan in front of his face, "You can eat it."

Luffy grinned.

 

* * *

 

 **Chopper**  could have had a heart attack.

He sat with Usopp and Brook on the railing, watching them fishing but with his sharp senses, he could hear a noise from afar and when he looked back, Chopper almost fainted multiple times — the knocked basket, the outraged navigator and the audacious captain.

But they both went to  _Sunny_ 's figurehead and didn't come back. No agonizing screams. No splashing sound.

Chopper didn't quite completely understand human's feelings and he just thought that Luffy and Nami (especially the former) were absolutely not a normal case to study but he also knew about the simplest facts of this ship.

No one touched Nami's mikans.

No one sat at Luffy's favorite spot.

Chopper looked up at Usopp with such admiration in his eyes.

 _Luffy defeated 1,000 of Arlong's crewmates, beat the crap out of the Merman captain and destroyed Arlong park by himself in five minutes before he collapsed from exhaustion into Nami's awaiting arms_  must have been true after all.

 

* * *

 

 **T** hey were so close and the heat was almost too much to bear.

Nami jerked back a bit as his thumb gently caressed the back of her hand in a small circular movement while his mouth slowly roamed around from the corner of her lips, her flushed cheek to her ear before giving her earlobe a few licks.

"Do you like it, Nami?" his tone was husky and so unlike him, sending a shiver run down her spine.

Her knees started to give in but Luffy knew better. He grabbed her hip and pushed her back against the wall, pressing his body into her.

The next moment, they were kissing each other like there's no tomorrow.

Their hot breaths mingled together. Her fingers merged into his hair, desperately bringing him down to meet her need, closer and deeper, and Luffy complied.

His hands were everywhere, touching and stroking underneath her blouse, leaving behind a hot trail on her smooth skin as their tongues were frantically dancing against each other's in a delectable rhythm.

Nami moaned into his mouth and his eyes glazed over.

Their mouths fell apart. Luffy grunted, instinctively grinding his hip into hers, making her head loll back from the sensation, giving him a better access. He trailed his kiss from her jaw to her neck, biting and sucking her flesh before moving his way down to her collarbone but then he paused.

Nami loudly gasped then cried out in surprise when one of his hand grabbed her blouse and suddenly tore it apart, sending half of the buttons to fly away. His tongue and teeth quickly resumed their work, attacking the new area of her exposed skin, making another round of delightful moans escape from her throat.

That was when the door cracked open and both of them jerked at the sound.

For a moment, Luffy just blinked.

Nami looked at the door before shifting her gaze back, clinging her blouse together, abashed.

When Luffy caught the sight of Nami in front of him and realized what he had done, he clumsily took a step back away from her, so many emotions swirling in his eyes.

"I'm sorry."

Before Nami could say anything, Luffy was gone.

 

* * *

 

 **Robin**  was surprised, indeed.

She knew her captain wasn't an idiot and she could sense something special in the way Luffy and Nami looked at each other, even before that accident but honestly, Robin had never expected both of them (especially the captain) to go this fast.

She only came to the girls' quarter to retrieve one of her books and now, she couldn't decide if it was a bad thing or not.

When Robin was about to leave, Luffy beat her to it.

He went off in a rush, his face wearing an uncharacteristically serious expression and he didn't seem to acknowledge her presence at all.

Robin turned back, watching Nami slump down onto her bed and for a brief moment, she thought she should leave, the book wasn't that important but then she decided against it and walked over, sitting down beside Nami.

She realized she made the right choice when she saw confusion in Nami's eyes.

 

* * *

 

 **Z** oro went back into the dining room, his eye wandering around the table for a second before he sat down casually.

"Oi Zoro, don't tell me you were lost in our own ship." Usopp said, giving him a disbelieving look, "Where's Luffy?"

Rolling his eye, Zoro replied, "He said he wasn't hungry."

" _Seriously_?" Usopp's eyes widened in surprise as well as (Brook's but he didn't have eyes) Chopper's.

Zoro didn't answer.

"Maybe he's sick." Chopper mumbled, worried, "I should go check on him." he said, ready to jump down and leave but Nami stopped him.

"It's okay, Chopper. He's fine."

Franky and Brook remained silent.

Zoro folded his arms over his chest.

Robin gazed at Nami with an understanding look in her eyes.

"That idiot." Sanji grumbled to himself, briefly glancing at Nami, "Let's eat."

As if listening to Sanji's words for once, Zoro was the first one to start and then everybody followed him shortly after that, except for Nami. She suddenly got up and Sanji's eye twitched ever so slightly.

"Nami-san?"

"I'm going to work on my maps." Nami announced before quickly leaving the room.

It was like a secret code for 'do  _not_  disturb or follow me' and nobody, not even Sanji, bothered to stop her.

They knew Nami meant it.

 

* * *

 

 **Franky**  could feel the tension.

Even though it was so faint and intangible, it did exist. Luffy was unusually quiet since yesterday but everybody didn't seem to notice or if they did, they hadn't showed it at all. Alas, the biggest evidence had just arrived.

Physically, Luffy seemed fine thus, this must have been some sort of love problems and everything was crystal clear when Nami left.

Sanji abruptly stood up, seeming ready to go kill the said captain but Franky halted him and decided to give it a shot.

As a man and as the older with age and experience, maybe he was able to help Luffy.

Franky left the dining room and headed to the men's quarter but when he arrived, he noticed the door was left ajar. He dared to look in and shortly after that, headed back on the same route with a smile (and a hint of sentimental tears), knowing they could work it out.

Those kids sure did grow up.

 

* * *

 

 **H** is hand squeezed her shoulder lightly, somehow reassuring.

"I'm sorry, Nami." Luffy repeated quietly, deep sincerity in his eyes promising his words.

Nami backed off a bit, giving him a long incredulous stare, her voice quivering, "What do you mean, Luffy?" she tentatively inquired, her fingers curling up into a fist, "Why?"

Luffy looked straight into her eyes.

"It's weird, Nami but if Robin hadn't come, I  _know_  I would've hurt you." he said, his hand traveling up from her shoulder, gently brushing against the faint mark on the base of her neck, "I'm sorry."

She was speechless and before she knew it, a tear rolled down her cheek.

He flinched at the sight, slightly panicked, "Don't cry Nami! It's okay now." he gently wiped her tears away, his brow furrowing, "I won't let anybody hurt you."

 _Not even myself_.

Nami let out a soft sound between gasp and giggle, "Silly,  _you_ 've never hurt me." she murmured, cupping his cheeks before pulling him down and captured his lips with her own.

For a brief moment, Luffy was surprised but soon, he kissed her back with an equal passion, his arms wrapping securely around her waist.

Just then, he laughed.

Nami quickly pulled back, her arms still wrapping around his neck, "What?" she asked and blinked, half-confused, half-annoyed.

"Shishishi, so you like kissing me, too."

Nami rolled her eyes.

"Does that mean I don't have to pay you back?" he asked rhetorically, grinning.

"No."

Luffy was suddenly deflated, pouting, "Meanie." he muttered.

Playing with his raven locks, she said cunningly, "But know what? You're so lucky, captain." she pecked his lips, smiling, "I lost count."

Needless to say, his grin was wider than before then he laughed again, "That's good, Nami but.. I'm hungry."

Nami laughed as his stomach growled, "Go ahead, your food is waiting."

"Shishishi." he gave her a brief kiss before enthusiastically running out of the men's quarter like a three-year-old child. Nami watched until he left, her eyes lingering at the door for a moment, a warm smile gracing her lips.

"400 million beli is more than enough, Luffy."

 

* * *

 

 **Brook** was happy.

The crow's nest was such a perfect spot to relish the sight of the moon and the stars in a night like this. He looked around, enjoying the sight of the sleeping ocean reflected by the pale moonlight, contrasting with darkness above before his gaze stopped at the deck below and he noticed two figures that he could identify as Luffy and Nami, sitting together.

Brook knew they both were happy now because earlier, after Nami and Franky was gone for a while, Luffy rushed in and literally chucked all remaining food into his mouth with an elated laugh. Their same old captain was back, just like that.

Not wanting to invade their privacy, Brook took a few steps back and looked at the sky before lifting his violin up.

This crew gave him  _life_. If they were sad, he could feel the pain. If they were happy, he would be, too. Just like this very moment, he could just feel happiness shining from their souls, so bright and clear, even more than the moonlight.

Love was beautiful.

The bittersweet memories flooded back and he started playing.

 

* * *

 

 **Nami**  was woken up by a strange feeling of something suddenly  _flying_  away from her embrace.

Languidly, she sat up and breathed in the familiar scent of the sea before trying to rub the sleep out of her eyes as she rested a hand against the grass to support herself.

 _Grass_.

As the dawn was breaking, realization hit her hard. She was out on the deck all night with — wait, where the hell was —

"My apology for waking you up, Nami-san."

Her head shot up at the sound, "Uh, morning.. Sanji-kun." she greeted him sheepishly as Sanji lit a cigarette before her eyes followed his line of sight.

Luffy who had his front buried in the door of the men's quarter slowly fell backwards down onto the deck and hit the grass with a loud thud then he flipped over, stirring up a bit before continuing his sleep with soft snores  _again_  as if nothing had happened.

"Shitty captain, letting Nami-san sleep outside like this.. " Sanji exasperatedly grumbled as he stormed to the dining room, fire of rage literally burning around him, " ..holding Nami-swan in front of my eye you rubber bastard!"

Nami sweatdropped as Sanji disappeared from her sight. She grabbed Luffy's hat beside her, stood up and stretched before walking over and placed it on Luffy's head without waking him up. She then went to the girls' quarter to take her new clothes and headed straight to the bathhouse, too hurry to notice Robin's knowing smile. Nami really needed to take a bath to relax her strained muscles. The grassy deck wasn't a good place to sleep at all, especially if you weren't made of rubber in this case.

"Yohohoho, Nami-san." Brook greeted her as he came down from the crow's nest. Last night was his turn to watch, "I assume you had a good sleep last night." he chirped.

Despite herself, Nami blushed. Her eyes unconsciously drifted towards Luffy who was still obliviously sleeping but unfortunately Zoro happened to choose that exact moment to come out for his training session. He paused eyeing the door then Luffy for a second and wasted no time to throw a suspicious look at her but she ignored him. Nami gave Brook a curt nod and rushed off.

She just needed to take a bath now.

Yesterday, after she and Luffy had somewhat of a mutual understanding, they sat together on the deck, star gazing, talking and..  _stuff_ , until she'd just fallen asleep at some point.

Nami sighed and closed her eyes leaning her back against the bathtub as she let hot water relax her muscles.

Sure, cuddling —  _sleeping next to Luffy_ wasn't a crime. She knew but she'd rather her crew not witness it. Maybe she should thank Sanji later.

After a moment, Nami couldn't help but let out a soft chuckle at her thoughts.

Who in the world would have thought that she of all people would be in this situation, especially with her asexual captain. If anyone had told her two years ago, one month ago, even a week ago that Luffy was capable of kissing a girl (because he  _was_  a man), she knew she would have laughed at them then made a bet, proved the fact, corrected the fallacy and earned millions.

But as almost always, her raven haired captain had proved her and everybody else wrong.

Luffy was, like he'd always called everything he didn't quite understand, a real mystery. His sense of logic was far more mysterious than Robin's smile, Zoro's sense of direction or Sanji's _eye_ because rather than complicated, it was so simple and innocent that Nami just didn't — couldn't — wouldn't understand and without realizing it, she'd fallen  _hard_  for him — her simple-minded rubber captain.

Boy, she was so in love that in some fleeting moments, she really hated herself for these stupid girly feelings but no matter what, she couldn't deny she was crazy when it came to him — sleeping outside on the deck after they'd just entered the range of a winter island was just one from many.

For her, last night was like a dream because she was so happy and he was  _warm_  and her lack of sleep did nothing but making her fall asleep even faster before she could tell Luffy or even herself to get back to bed but she did remember. Luffy told her about the Amazon Lily. He told her about the people he'd met, how he was trained by the Dark King and he told her he lo —

Nami's eyes suddenly snapped open.

What had she just thought?

This was  _Luffy_  we were talking about. That ridiculous L-word part must have been a dream or a figment of her own imagination, Brook's song playing trick with her mind before she slept perhaps.

Running a hand through her damp hair, Nami closed her eyes once again then heaved a sigh at herself in slight frustration.

Somehow, she was officially crazy about that idiot now.

 

* * *

 

 **L** ater that night, Nami spotted Luffy when she was about to go upstairs.

He was lying alone on the grass near the railing. His hat was faithfully laid beside him, letting its owner take the full view of the shining stars on the inky night sky above as the wind blew over genially playing with his dark hair. That image looked so peaceful and perfect she was helplessly drawn towards him.

Surprisingly, Luffy was awake, a pleasant smile on his face and it considerably grew wider even before her shadow graced his presence. He slowly got up, sitting crossed legs before he patted the grass beside him gesturing for Nami to sit down without glancing at her and when she did, he turned to look at her with somewhat of a quizzical expression on his face.

"I've just finished my map." she answered his silence question. Luffy nodded his head before looking up at the sky again.

Another cold breeze ran over and Nami drew her knees to her chest, slightly surprised by his unusual silence, asking, "And you?"

"I'm thinking about Ace." Luffy replied quietly. Nami paused, tensing up a bit at his brother's name before her eyes softened.

"I'm sorry." she breathed out, placing her hand on his knee with slight pressure as if trying to remind him that she was still here and he wasn't alone.

He didn't say anything.

Yesterday, Luffy never talked about Impel Down and Nami never asked. If anyone could understand him most, that one would be her. She knew completely how hard it must have been to lose someone you loved before your eyes.

"Your hand is small." Luffy murmured out of nowhere as he slipped his hand under hers, lacing their fingers together and despite the cold air around them, his small gestures sparked a warm glow right from her fingertips through her heart.

"I will protect you Nami." he said sincerely looking into her eyes with a smile that made her heartbeat quicken even faster and she couldn't help but smile back.

"Luffy.. " she began in a whisper, squeezing his hand, "Arigatou."

As she studied his face, Luffy's smile turned into a grin before he lightly tugged at her hand as if gesturing for her to move closer, "Are you cold, Nami?" he asked.

"Yes?" she replied absentmindedly, arching an eyebrow.

"Good." Luffy said before he moved his hand from hers then easily lifted her up onto his lap. Nami tensed but soon, she started to relax in his embrace when he did nothing other than wrapping his arms around her torso, her head casually resting on his shoulder as she suddenly recalled that she'd fallen asleep like this in the previous night —

The previous night.

' _I_   _love you_.'

Nami frowned deeply. There was no way Luffy would say such a thing like that —  _would he_?

She twitched then looked up at Luffy who gave her a simple ' _hmm_ ' in return and before Nami could even arrange her thoughts, she blurted out, "About last night.. " she paused while Luffy gave her a hesitant nod, "Did you.. what did you say last night?"

Nami silently cursed herself at how lame her question turned out to be.

"I told you about the Maiden Island." he answered matter-of-factly, looking owlishly at her, "I met Margaret.. and Sandersonia and Marigold and Hancock—"

"Not about that." Nami cut him off, fidgeting slightly on his lap. She would never admit it out loud but the thought of the snake princess asking Luffy to marry her annoyed Nami to no end.

Luffy tilted his head to one side, confused but still continued, "Then Rayleigh came to see me and taught me to use haki—"

"No!" she interrupted and mentally slapped herself for her silliness, "Not that part, either.. I mean, never mind I'm going to sleep now." she ended lamely, trying to untangle herself from him but Luffy tightened his arms around her waist not letting her go.

"Let's stay, Nami." he said simply, his eyes never leaving hers.

Nami stopped, eyeing Luffy for a moment before asking hesitantly, "Are we going to sleep here again?"

"Yep!" he replied with his famous toothy grin.

"But everybody will see us." she tried to reason.

"Let'em"

"Luffy, it's cold."

"I'll warm you."

"I'm not made of rubber and I have my comfortable bed waiting for me in my room." she weakly protested despite a smile tugging at the corner of her lips.

"I want to be with you, Nami." Luffy countered smoothly.

"Ugh, fine!" Nami sighed and slumped down against him once again, her cheeks flushed. Luffy laughed happily and leaned back against the railing as Nami closed her eyes, grimly acknowledging the fact that at this rate, she would never be able to resist him again.

"You're an idiot, Luffy." she murmured against his shirt, "But I love you."

"Love you, too."

" _What_?!" Nami perked up like his words was electricity that suddenly ran through her body, staring at her captain like she'd never properly seen him before, mesmerized.

"You're thinking too much." Luffy said quietly after a moment of staring and she could almost  _hear_ him smiling, "I love you, Nami." he simply said, his tone silently screaming at her that she should  _already_  know a simple thing like this by now.

Nami stared, blinked and just stared letting the realization sink in. Her body stiffened, her heart skipped a beat.

It wasn't a dream. He  _actually_  said he loved her.

Monkey D. Luffy loved Nami.

"Oi, are you ok—"

She pressed her lips against his in a brief kiss, not giving Luffy a chance to finish, "Never been better." Nami answered breathlessly, snuggling up to him. She wouldn't give a damn if the whole world was watching them right now.

"Shishishi," he grinned.

Nami smiled contentedly before closing her eyes, letting the rhythm of Luffy's heartbeat lull her to sleep without forgetting to remind herself to ask Franky if he could build a new quarter for her and Luffy, first thing in the morning. The grassy deck wouldn't do her any good for this matter.

"You're gonna be queen, Nami." Luffy murmured against her hair.

Nami's smile widened, "I know."

And she believed him.


End file.
